Green beans are an easy crop to grow that will give even the beginning gardener a great harvest.
Growth Habit
Green beans have threes possible growth habits: pole, semi-bush, and bush. Pole and semi bush need trellising or staking while bush beans do not. Your seed package will tell you which type you have. I have grown all three types. With tall pole beans they will do better in an area protected from wind.
Types of Green Beans
Green Beans or Snap Beans
Green Beans are long, round, and of course green. There are yellow varieties that are referred to as wax beans. Yellow keep their color when cooked. There are also purple varieties that add beautiful color, but when cooked they do turn green. Most varieties no longer have the fiberous string running down the side which led to the name string beans. Some heirlooms can still be found with strings.
There are many delicious recipes for green beans, but they can also be pickled and canned.
Haricot Verts or French Green Beans or Filet Beans
These are my favorite fresh eating variety and are considered a gourmet bean. They are long and thin and tender. They also come in yellow and purple varieties.
Long Beans
Long beans or yard long beans are actually a different family. If too long they are tough so look for beans that reach 12-18 inches.
Romano Beans or Flat Beans
These beans are flat and wide. They should be eaten young before the bean seeds develop and require longer cooking times. The are said to be very flavorful.
All green beans are interchangeable in recipes with maybe a slightly different texture and color.
Cultivating Green Beans
Green beans can be planted when the soil temperature is
60-65F; however they are a tender crop so wait until there is no threat of a freeze. You can succession plant a couple crops 2 weeks apart to extend the harvest.
Always direct seed beans. Plant bush beans an inch deep with 4 plants per square foot. Pole beans can be planted along a trellis 3 inches apart.
When seedlings first emerge, birds, grasshoppers, pillbug, and slugs can be a problem. Any product containing iron phosphate will take care of slugs and pillbugs. If birds and grasshoppers snack on your seedlings cover with a floating row cover until the true leaves appear.
Watering needs at planting are low and increase as the plants mature. Beans will stop flowering if not given enough water. When plants flower increase watering and water heavy through harvest.
Harvest regularly to keep them producing. The more regularly you harvest the more they set flowers. If you planted a determinate crop they produce one big crop and are then finished but most will keep on producing til a freeze. I like to harvest green beans and wax beans when they are the size of a pencil. Haricot beans are harvested when diameter is smaller than a pencil .
Fertilizing
Beans do not need much in way of fertilizer. If you incorporated 1-2 inches of compost into your soil prior to planting you will get a healthy crop. Green beans are legumes which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of the bacteria rhizobia in nodules found on the roots. Watch for a post explain the process of nitrogen fixing. In newer beds you can inoculate your soil with the bacteria used by legumes to fix nitrogen. It is sprinkled in the furrow or hole you plant the beans in.
Links to green bean recipes and canning info:
No comments:
Post a Comment